Cultural institutions across downtown to benefit

An air of celebration filled the wood-paneled Collector's Office at the National Museum of the American Indian Wednesday afternoon as members of the downtown arts community assembled to hear rebuilding officials announce the award of millions of dollars to support cultural institutions in Lower Manhattan.

Fulfilling part of a pledge made last spring to enrich downtown cultural organizations beyond the World Trade Center site, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) will distribute grants totaling almost $30 million to 63 downtown cultural institutions. The diverse group of recipient institutions includes museums, theaters, and dance and music performance venues spread across the area south of Houston Street from river to river.

"There is no question that this is an up day," said LMDC Chairman John Whitehead to the assembled crowd of ardent arts supporters. "In fact, it is one of the best up days I've had in the four and a half years I've been in this job," he continued. "This group of organizations that are receiving grants -- when their work is done -- we will have a richer array of culture in Lower Manhattan than we have in mid Manhattan."

Whitehead was joined by LMDC President Stefan Pryor, Governor George Pataki's Chief of Staff John Cahill, and members of the LMDC Cultural Enhancement Fund Advisory Panel, a group authorized by the LMDC Board to help steer the award allocation process, as well as various award recipients.

Sigourney Weaver, who sits on the board of downtown's Flea Theater, underscored the importance of the day's announcement. "Nourishing the arts is as vital an investment right now as any on Wall Street," she said.

The Flea plans to use its grant to continue to raise the standards of Off-Off-Broadway, Weaver said. The money will provide for capital projects, such as the installation of new bathrooms, an actors' entrance, and the replacement of a 100-year-old "cranky" furnace. Even more important, she said, "This money for the arts downtown is a sign to us of our growing maturity as a society."

Award to fund completion of SANAA building

Events that will receive funding include a free flower show celebrating New York neighborhoods at the Winter Garden, a social and political arts festival at sites throughout downtown put on by the Culture Project, and Harmony on the Hudson, a free one-day festival for families in Battery Park City organized by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, among others.

Planning projects include funding for the pre-design phase of the build out of a new larger museum space for the Museum of the Chinese in the Americas designed by Maya Lin, funds to assist the Children's Museum of the Arts to relocate to a new space in Lower Manhattan to allow for increased visitorship, and funding to plan renovations of the Soho Repertory Theatre.

For a full list of grant recipients and award amounts, click here. For a map showing the locations of the recipient institutions, click here. The awards are expected to be approved by the LMDC Board at its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 9^th.

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